What Are the Different Influences on Ancient Greek Jewelry?

Greek jewelry is simple in style but exquisitely intricate, reflecting a fascinating history of trade and conquest. Today, we shall be discussing how Greek history and culture have influenced popular Greek jewelry. We’ll take a glance at the elements and ideas that have an impact on classical Greek jewelry and make them endearing, distinctive, and enduring.

It goes without saying that Ancient Greek jewelry has captivating, hypnotic beauty. Merely looking at this beautiful jewelry will take you back to ancient times when jewelry has meaningful purposes to serve. Pieces of jewelry did not only have significance but stories as well. Undoubtedly, Greek jewelry has always been the representation of fortune, elegance, and good taste. 

Traditional Greek jewelry was made of precious metals and crafted with real pearls and stones. Ancient Greek jewelry was majorly influenced by Egyptians, Romans, and Assyrians. This influence could be seen in their fashion and jewelry, which incorporated various styles from various cultures. The influence of roman culture on Greek jewelry is reflected by the presence of expensive gems like aquamarine, topaz, and amethyst. Ancient Greek jewelry includes granule work, and tracery work, with representations of gods and goddesses on them. Traditional jewelry from ancient Greek culture is meant not only for styling but they have other significance in society as well. There are meaningful ideas behind this cultural jewelry. 

It is a well-known fact that ancient greeks worshipped their sky gods including Zeus, Aether, Helios, and more. We can find these Greek gods emphasized in the Greek jewelry. In ancient times, Greek people wore jewelry to represent their respect for the almighty. Greek jewelry was highly expensive and quite rare to obtain which made them a way for people to flaunt their fortune and status. Antique pieces of Greek jewelry have also been found in the graves of the Greek people. This somehow represents that deceased owners believed that they must take their expensive and significant possession with them to the afterlife as well. 

Besides the belief of the people from ancient greek, these pieces of jewelry also represent much about the society from that time. For instance, ancient Greek coin jewelry signifies the use of coins among the people from that time. Besides coins, Greek jewelry is also decorated with animals, filigree techniques, granule work, celestial bodies, and other traditional symbols. 

Different ways of decorating Greek jewelry are believed to be developed in different timelines. For instance, the depiction of animals was introduced around the Minon era. And, the most commonly depicted animals on Greek jewelry are snakes, lions, and lions. Similarly, the intricate filigree technique and the granule work became common in the golden era. In honor of celestial gods and goddesses of the Greek culture, jewelry designed as celestial bodies can also be found. 

The richness of Greek culture and tradition cannot be emphasized enough. And, this is the reason why people from all over the world, know about them and are influenced by them. If you also find the Greek tradition interesting, then you must try ancient Greek jewelry.